Wardrobe Malfunction – Nike Fail

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Is that a cold front coming in?

So, I’m obviously thrilled with the Badgers winning their bowl game and getting their 10th win in what was thought to be a rebuilding year, but what has me smiling today really is the very funny images of Miami Hurricane players shivering on the sideline last night huddling by their portable heaters trying to stay warm in their fancy Nike “Pro Combat” uniforms (err, excuse me, “System of Dress”).

Indeed, around the second quarter, the TV broadcast showed a bunch of bewildered Miami players hunched around little mini-heaters on their sideline, while the Badgers were running around sleeveless and having a blast. I knew then the game was going to go the Badgers’ way.

CORAL GABLES, Fla. — The University of Miami football team will wear the Nike Pro Combat uniform, a new system of dress and the lightest weight football uniform Nike has ever created, when it takes the field for the South Florida contest on Saturday, November 28.

Miami is one of 11 elite programs to debut the Nike Pro Combat uniform during the month of November before it is officially introduced at the start of the 2010 season. The Hurricanes are joined by Clemson, Florida, Florida State, LSU, Virginia Tech, Missouri, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Texas and TCU as the schools debuting the uniform this month.

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Why yes, that is a cold front!

“Nike has been a premier partner of the University of Miami for many years,” commented Director of Athletics Kirby Hocutt. “The UM athletic department is honored to have been selected as one of the programs to debut the Pro Combat uniform.”

Nike designed the Pro Combat uniform to address the evolution of the game and the increase in strength and speed of the student-athletes. The uniform is 37 percent lighter than current designs (673 grams vs. 1,061 grams). Nike utilized a four-way stretch twill that does not hold sweat or water and, as a result, the new uniforms are 46 percent lighter than the current designs when wet. Overall, the Nike Pro Combat uniform is lighter when wet that the current Miami design when completely dry.
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The Nike Pro Combat Deflex shorts are made with Nike Dri-FIT technical fabric to provide superior moisture wicking, helping to keep players dry and cool. With the padding incorporated into the base layer, players gain greater mobility over traditional padding and the outer uniform becomes a lightweight, breathable shell with a sleek, explosive look.

“Players need their uniforms to be as light as possible so they can play the game at top speed,” said Kris Aman, Global VP and General Manager for Nike Athletic Training which includes football. “The Nike Pro Combat uniform is a modern system of dress that is dramatically lighter while providing durability and protection.”

‘Course, when you put these ultra light and cool uniforms on a bunch of kids used to Miami weather and they run up against a big, burly Badger team coming down from the “Frozen Tundra” reveling in the relative balmy-ness of last night’s 40 degree weather in Orlando – maybe the old style heavy and warm uniforms would do?